Search
Program Calendar
Browse By Day
Browse By Time
Browse By Person
Browse By Room
Browse By Unit
Browse By Session Type
Search Tips
Visiting Washington, D.C.
Personal Schedule
Sign In
Playing civic video games has emerged as a uniquely ripe setting for youth to develop skills needed in a changing civic sphere. Likewise, game-making can function as a form of “micro-civics education”: nurturing collaborative skills outside of explicitly civic contexts. In a pilot study, 13 high school freshmen designed in small groups cooperative controllers for carnival games with Scratch and Makey-Makey. Our analysis focused on the challenges characteristic of game-making, which could cultivate skills identified by researchers as vital in the civic sphere: planning and goal-setting, leadership and governance, deliberation and consensus-building and collaborative problem-solving. We discuss the unique advantages of the iterative design process, and the perspective taking required by game-design, in facilitating a context for “micro-civics education”.